Academic Students' Attitudes toward Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Background: Learning disabilities (LD) are lifelong disabilities that affect all facets of a person's life. Aim: Identifying the relationship between academic students' attitudes toward learning disability, self-image, and selected factors. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 213 students from an academic center in Israel. Two different scales were used: (1) Students' Attitudes scale toward students with learning disability; (2) Students' Self-image scale. Results: 1. the student attitudes scale were found to be relatively high. 2. A significant positive relationship was found between students' attitudes and their self-image. 3. More positive attitudes were found among those students who have friend with learning disabilities. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate the necessity of reinforce students self-image and to encourage the students to socialize with students who have LD, in order to strengthen the positive and favorable attitudes of students at the academy, which will positively have impact on the success of the integration of students with learning disabilities into the community and society.